A New Truth
by ceridwen-amyed
Summary: I wrote this because I always wondered whats going on in Al's head when he discovers Cassim is still alive... Its set just after the Oracle shows them the image.


This is my first Aladdin fan fic, so go easy on me

This is my first Aladdin fan fic, so go easy on me! If you haven't seen Aladdin and the King of Thieves, then you probably won't understand this… So go see it!

Also, if you don't like introspective writing then you'd better give this a miss… I just wrote this because I like to know what characters _really _think and feel… However good the animation or cinematography maybe at showing us characters and their lives, they can never recreate that… Okay now I'm rambling…

Please r & r, I love to have feedback J

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters (Aladdin, Jasmine, et all) in this fan fic – if I did, you can bet there would have been more then three movies! They all belong to Disney and I am not making a money from this etc etc. You know the score…

Anyway, on with the fan fic!

* * * * * * *

"He's alive…" whispered Aladdin, more to himself then to the others in the room. There was a shocked silence.

The Oracle gestured with her hands and the image of the man, who somehow looked the same as Aladdin faded. His father…

"I await your decision," said the Oracle, vanishing back inside the sceptre. It fell with a clatter to the ground. Aladdin hesitated then picked it up and ran his fingers over the green jewel. His mind was blank, unable to comprehend what he had just been told. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Aladdin."

He turned to face Jasmine, her face mirroring his own of shock. He looked over her head to see the other guys staring at them. Even Iago was silent. Aladdin looked back at Jasmine and saw how beautiful she looked in her wedding dress. 

__

Why now? Why do I find this out… now?

Jasmine took his hand and started to speak. 

"Aladdin, I-"

"You look beautiful Jasmine," he interrupted. "But I think you should change." He saw her face fall and immediately wanted to kick himself. None of this was Jasmine's fault and here he was, making out that he blamed her in some twisted way. She was trying to reach out to him and he had just shot her down. He hadn't meant to speak so bluntly to her, it was just…

"I didn't mean it like that, I just… I need to be alone."

Jasmine placed his hand over her heart and nodded, smiling weakly.

"I understand."

He cupped her cheeks with his hands and looked deep into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly. They stared at each other a moment longer, then Aladdin reluctantly dropped his hands and walked quickly out of the ruined wedding pavilion, taking the Oracle with him.

Genie started to go after him but Jasmine put a hand on his arm.

"No Genie. This hurts me too but I think Aladdin needs time by himself… to figure this out." She sighed and looked after her loves retreating back. "We all do," she whispered softly.

Genie nodded sadly and then turned to Iago, determined to break the tension in the room.

"Come on bird-man. We'd better get started on re-building this joint."

"What do you mean 'we'?!" squawked the parrot angrily. "You're an omnipotent genie! Whaddya need me for?!"

"Only a semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic omnipotent genie remember," grinned the big blue lug, recovering his irrepressible good humour quickly, as usual. He zapped a shiny, yellow hard hat on Iago's head, knocking Abu of his shoulder in the process. He was scooped up by Carpet before hitting the marble floor and squeaked a few incomprehensible words.

"Besides you look good in that hat. Cute in fact!"

"Cute?!" Iago shrieked before being zapped back into the destroyed pavilion. Genie winked at Jasmine, who gave a half-hearted smile in return, and 'poofed' to join Iago, leaving a pair of huge lips behind that said:

" We'll be done before you can see 'a camel just ate my fez!"

Jasmine sighed and turned to look at Abu, who now sat on Carpet's brightly woven fabric, eager to run after Aladdin.

"Abu, stay near Aladdin. Keep an eye on him… Make sure he doesn't do anything…" She trailed off but Abu, happy to be given something to do, nodded and squeaked out something that could have been a yes, but Jasmine wasn't sure. She still hadn't developed Aladdin's level of understanding to the little monkey. Carpet gave her a jaunty salute with one of his tassels and flew off towards Aladdin's hovel.

Jasmine looked after them until they had almost vanished from her vision and then turned her back, starting for her chambers.

* * * * * *

Aladdin looked towards the palace from his seat on the hovel's window/ big-hole-in-the-wall-which-continually-changes-size-and-shape. He sighed heavily, turning his attention to the dagger in his hands. He hadn't bothered to change out of his wedding robes; he couldn't summon the energy to change and besides, most of his clothes had been moved to the palace… A place where he should be right now, celebrating with the other guests… and his new wife.

He groaned softly, closing his eyes. Why now, he thought desperately. This should have been the best day of his life and instead… Instead he was moping around an abandoned building, one that he should have moved out of that day.

He looked out across Agrabah. Wedding banners and decorations still adorned the city. A few of the more pessimistic citizens were starting to remove them but most still waved in the wind, reminding Aladdin what the King of Thieves had destroyed. If _he _had never shown up, he would still be blissfully unaware that he had a _father_.

And Jasmine… this wasn't fair on her. She deserved the best wedding to the best husband. He opened his eyes and gazed at the palace. What did she see in him? He knew that some people in the city (including Jasmine) thought he was Agrabah's greatest hero, which suited his ego just fine. But he was painfully aware that more thought that if it weren't for him, then there would be no mad villain trying to destroy Agrabah. Aladdin sighed. He was one of them.

Yet Jasmine still had undying faith and love for him and what did she receive in return? A city that was regularly destroyed because he had mad sorcerers / inventors / evil incarnate after him and everybody he cared about. And now he had managed to totally screw up what should have been the best day of her life. 

Aladdin heard a 'whooshing' noise and glanced out the window. Below him, he saw Carpet and Abu land on the street outside. They looked up and the magic carpet began to pace. Abu looked at him for a moment and then quickly followed suit. Jasmine had probably sent them after him to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. He frowned sadly. He had let her down in so many ways…

Aladdin looked back down at the curved dagger and withdrew the blade from its sheath. His fathers dagger… So many questions ran through his head. _Where is he? How is he? Why did he leave? Was he forced to leave his wife and child or had he just decided that he didn't want a family?_ He picked up the Oracle and looked at it closely. The biggest question that had occupied his thought since the Oracle had offered him this chance was _do I really want to know? Do I really want to ask this Oracle where he is? What if he doesn't want to know me?_ Aladdin was fairly sure that he could not deal with that level of rejection… could anyone? Yet, he knew other people, like himself, who had no idea where they came from and were desperate to know. If he chose to try to forget, would he regret it when he was older, with a family of his own?

That last thought made him smile slightly. He still found the thought of marrying Jasmine and having a family awe-inspiring. Not to mention that he would one day be Sultan…

Would his father be there? If he tried to find him, would his father be there to watch his grandchildren grow and his son become Sultan. Would he even care? What if he had a new family and didn't even remember his own wife or even Aladdin?

He threw the Oracle on the ground angrily. He didn't want to think about it anymore. His thoughts were going round in circles and at the centre of them, like some kind of sun in the twisted universe of his mind, was an image he could not forget: _Cassim…_

Aladdin sat up and looked out at the palace. He knew he should go there and talk about it with Jasmine. She always understood him and always knew what was right… it was one of the many things that he admired about her. At the same time however, he did not think that he could explain the full complexity of his emotions. He wasn't even sure that he, himself entirely understood them…

He looked out to the palace and tried to wrestle his feelings into some kind of order. He gave up, shoving the dagger back into its sheath. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Aladdin."

He opened his eyes to see Jasmine walking up the steps, concern covering her face.

"Are you alright?"

Aladdin closed his eyes and leaned his head against the warm stone. The concern in her face and voice was almost too much for him to bear…

Jasmine picked up the discarded Oracle and sat next to him, placing a hand on his own.

"What's wrong?"

To his great surprise, Aladdin managed to open his mouth and start speaking. Then again, he shouldn't have been so surprised: Jasmine had a way of soothing his soul just by being near him. 

"I always wanted to know about my father but it's just, now I'm not so sure. What kind of man leaves his son?"

He stood and walked past Jasmine, looking out across the city. She looked after him sadly.

"Did he even care?" He sighed heavily. "Maybe I don't want to know him."

Jasmine stood and placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to look into her eyes.

"Yes, you do," she smiled.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Aladdin, looking away from her. For the first time since meeting her, Aladdin was suddenly afraid, like a small boy, that Jasmine would not be able to make it all better with a kiss on the cheek.

Jasmine looked worried for a moment, then smiled and pushed herself in front of him.

"Because I already know him," she said in a firm voice.

Aladdin looked up in surprise. _How could she –_

"Because I know you…"

* * * * * * *

And you all know the rest!

Hmm, what do you think? I'm writing this fairly late at night (11:55 to be precise) so this may not turn out as intended… My brain's turned to porridge… *yawns*

Well, anyways, please send me feedback. God knows, I need it… :P

Thursday 6th July 2001


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